How China's Mobile Gaming Providers Entice Customers

We all know China is the largest cash economy in the world. They are also likely the biggest online gamers. They also may have the most intriguing online game marketing system.

Chart-Topping Success

For instance, in figures released by China's Android App store and Wandoujia search engine's Index, a game called Carrot Fantasy Ice II: Ice World registered over 200,000 downloads on each day of the first two days of its launch, with more than 1 million downloads registered in the first week.

Mobile Ecosystem

However, download charts per se are not the truest measure of mobile game success in China. This is because China has what is called a mobile “ecosystem,” where users play for free but pay for upgrades and premium content. This model, called freemium by Wandoujia's lead author, seeks to develop what might be called sustainable engagement, motivating users to purchase upgrades and premium content based on the attractiveness of the free downloaded game.

Online games are a major source of revenue for internet companies in China, with over 490 million users and and $13.7 billion in revenues. Online games also drive internet traffic, which increases the user base as well as user interactions that can be monetized.

The Tencent Mobile Example

One example of how this can work for an online gaming company going mobile in China is through the case of China's largest internet company. Tencent Holdings holds a social messaging app called WeChat, into which Tencent integrated mobile games as the means of monetizing its 355 million monthly active users. The model of internet traffic is similar to Facebook's foray into mobile gaming.

The Alibaba Gaming Example

As far as online gaming providers per se, Alibaba Group, which is also China’s top platform for e-commerce, is launching a new mobile gaming platform according to the logic that “...if you get more users, there’s a better chance you can offer more services," according to Will Tau, Analysis Director at iResearch.

Building Social Networks the Key to Mobile Success

While not all countries or markets have the same ratings system, it is clear that the platform of mobile gaming can enhance user interaction and community building, leading to more supplementary purchases from readers and more revenue streams for online gamers, who have much room to expand in social networking platforms, either existing ones or self-generated user communities that gaming providers can easily develop.